As a kid, I was afraid of bees. I mean, hysterically afraid.  To be fair, I probably had good reason, I'd been stung hundreds of times by the time I was 12.  I grew up next to a swamp and was constantly getting stung by bees, hornets, wasps, etc. 

Admittedly, most of the stings were due to my own idiocy. Okay, nearly all were due to idiocy.  One time, after getting stung when I was 8, I "declared war" on the big wasp nest and attacked it with a stick.  The wasps won.  I was not a very bright boy.  As my 1st grade teacher said to my mom (seriously) "The world needs ditch diggers."

It wasn't until I was older that I realized that most people didn't get stung by bees a lot. I had just assumed being stung regularly was a normal thing.  I was afraid of bees because of the sound they made and just some psychological impact of seeing them flying around. 

Being stung, other than stinging (no pun intended) had no side effect.  I didn't even know until high school that some people were allergic to bees. Heck, I didn't even know people were supposed to swell up or get any mark at all.  I'd get stung and just watch the little stinger pumping in my hand, arm, leg, whatever.  I'd eventually pull it out but there wasn't even a red mark.

I'm still afraid of bees.  I really don't like having an irrational fear of something.  So I've decided to take up bee keeping.  I bought a 3 acre property that has nothing on it presently and am thinking of raising honey bees. I'm only at the beginning phase of educating myself as to what is involved. The next step is buying the gear and then finally getting the actual queen bee to start the hive.

I also think it is something good for my kids to be exposed to as well.  Funny thing, my oldest son was stung by a bee just today. If my wife hadn't seen it, people would probably not believe him -- not even a mark.